Pacific Northwest Pollution Control Association

“Pncwa has no employees and has delegated control over certain administrative duties to a third party management agent pursuant to an administrative services agreement. This third party management agent acts as the top management official of the organization and has ultimate responsibility for implementing the decisions of the organization's governing body, administration, and operations of pncwa.”

“Pncwa is organized as a nonprofit association with members.”

“Four regional directors are elected on the regional level by the sections and sit on the pncwa board of directors. The members elect the other members of the board of directors.”

“Regions have been formed in the following areas: idaho region; oregon region; western washington region; and eastern washington region. Each region has a regional director and an executive committee. Each region's constitution and bylaws are reviewed and adopted by pncwa's board of directors. Sections may be operated under the region's constitution. Sections include regional affiliations of individuals representing wastewater treatment or collection systems, industrial waste facilities, or organizations whose objectives are in harmony with pncwa. Sections have their own bylaws which must be approved by the region executive committee and pncwa's board of directors and must be in accordance with article 3 of the constitution of pncwa. Any section may be excluded from pncwa by a majority vote of pncwa's board of directors for any change in its bylaws or objectives that may bring it into conflict with the constitution or general objectives of pncwa. The regions and sections are separate legal entities under state law, independent of pncwa.”

“Approximately a week prior to filing the form 990, a draft in pdf format is sent to the board of directors. Comments and corrections are strongly encouraged.”

“In addition to requiring board members, staff, and regular contractors to proactively notify the full board of any conflicts, all board members, staff, and regular contractors must sign an annual form which a) affirms that they have received a copy of the policy; b) read and understood it; c) agreed to comply with the policy; d) understood that pncwa is a charitable organization and must engage in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes; and e) list all relationships with pncwa vendors, service recipients, funders, employees and contractors. All potential conflicts are reviewed by the board of directors without the presence of the interested party.”

“The executive committee reviews and approves the top management official's annual contract with no participation by the top management official or other interested persons. The top management official's compensation is established using comparable data for similarly qualified persons in functionally comparable positions at similar nonprofits; consideration of roles and responsibilities of the top management official; and cost of living data. Comparable market data is obtained from salary surveys and form 990s filed by comparable not-for- profit organizations. Discussions and decisions regarding the compensation are documented in executive committee meeting minutes. The top management official's annual contract was reviewed and approved by the executive committee for 2014. The top management official also receives reimbursements for routine, reasonable, and documented expenses incurred during the year under an accountable plan. The top management official travels throughout our service area. Pncwa has a travel policy that caps reimbursement levels and requires low-budget travel.”

“Pncwa does not have any employees. Pncwa does not compensate other officers.”

“We consider requests on a case-by-case basis.”

“ASSOCIATION”

“Pacific northwest clean water association (pncwa) is dedicated to protecting and enhancing water resources in the states of idaho, oregon, and washington. To achieve this, we promote the professional development of our members, the dissemination of information to the public and policy makers, and the advancement of science and technology needed to protect human health and the environment.”

“The 12-member board meets monthly and serves as the guiding body of the organization with executive committee members working closely with management to guarantee program support and fiscal compliance. Other volunteers engage in the creation of technical training including a diverse industry-specific educational program offered at the annual conference and other workshops done both in-person and by webinar. Non-technical committees support program services such as public education and scholarship fundraising, and a range of volunteers contribute to the quarterly newsletter.”

“The public communications workshop; 25 attendees participating in leadership development workshops; 3 webinar trainings were offered ("biogas utilization," "plc basics," and "co-digestion") with a total of 65 attendee stations; and 117 individuals were awarded ceus (continuing education units).”

“3. Adopt-a-school grants: fund 6th-12th grade water curriculums in exchange for providing a classroom presentation from a water professional and/or treatment facility tour. Seven schools received funding in 2014 with grants totaling 5,000. Provided winners with water source book activities and wastewater utility partner. 4. Encourage awareness of the resources available on the wef (water environment federation) website. These water resource materials are targeted to the general public (water service consumers), educators and k- 12 students, college students and water quality professionals. 5. Fulfilled requests from 3 schools by providing a total of 5 water quality monitoring kits for participation in the world water monitoring challenge program.”

“Membership services: in addition to the training opportunities provided to its 1,450 members that help build professional excellence for established professionals, pncwa focuses on the issue of workforce sustainability (having a trained workforce to take the lead as retirements increase in the field). Leadership training and different areas of support for students and young professionals are part of this effort as well as a newly established scholarship fund to encourage education in the water quality field. In 2014, a total of 4,500 was awarded in pncwa environmental stewardship scholarships with each of 3 recipients receiving 1,500 to help cover costs in their educational pursuits regarding water quality. The scholarship committee raised a total of 14,186 in contributions in 2014 through fundraising activities at our annual conference. Also, a robust awards program is in place to honor excellence in the field. Two pncwa young professionals were supported in attending the wef/awwa (water environment association/american water works association) young professionals summit. Operations challenge is an event where wwtp operators' skills in maintenance, pump, safety, and lab events are tested. Four operations challenge teams competed at the pncwa annual conference. Two pacific northwest teams were given travel support to the national operations challenge competition at weftec with one of the teams placing 3rd overall in their division. A 1,337 donation was made by pncwa to werf (water environment research foundation) to support water research. Three pncwa representatives (one from each member state) were supported in attending the wef/awwa fly-in in washington dc, an an event designed to engage legislators and their staff in critical water topics with people from their local communities. A mentoring program pairs mentors and protgs who commit to working together over the course of at least a year.”